How to Spend 2 days in Halong Bay
- Alba
- Jun 10, 2017
- 4 min read
A great getaway from the busy Hanoi is the worldwide famous Bay of Halong. As many travellers, you will wonder; How do I get there? Should I choose Bai Tu Long Bay or Ha Long Bay? Is it as crowded as they say? I had the same questions and concerns and didn't know what do, in the end is all down to what time of the year you are travelling and how many days you spare to do this tour. In this post I am telling my experience hoping this helps you decide.
Vietnam Itinerary: Day 3 & 4
The drive takes around 3.5h-4h and the best way to get there is as part of an organised tour. Is actually about the same price to do it on your own and probably more time consuming, besides you have to book a tour on a junk (wooden boat or similar) to sail the bay anyway. The landscape is formed of impressive limestone karst towers scattered between the north China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin which waters feature a beautiful emerald colour.
We booked our trip with Indochina Junk as they seemed to have great reviews and a maximum group size of 20 people. They have a varied offer of boats ranging different prices, we chose the Dragon Pearl junk.
We were picked up at 7:40am from our hotel in central Hanoi and to our surprise instead of a big tourist bus, a comfortable and nearly luxurious 6 seats car was waiting for us.
On the way to Halong we stopped at an art workshop with a range of crafts all created by people with disabilities. Although a bit of a tourist trap, we were rather impressed with the quality of the tapestry, sculpture and lacquerware. The stuff is good quality and helps disabled people to have a well paid permanent job but is expensive compared to other places.
We arrived in Halong around 11:30 but had to wait for a while in a "waiting room" until the boats arrived back to port. Around 12:30 we boarded the junk and we were served a delicious mango juice whilst we were given the itinerary of our trip.
The rooms were quite spacious with a king size bed and a private bathroom. We had big windows overlooking the sea, all really pretty and cosy.
A range of activities were organised for the 2 days including a visit to a cave and a secluded beach, swimming, cooking classes and a visit to an oyster pearl farm and a fishing village were the locals give you a ride on a fishing boat around the stunning scenery.
A lot of people would find this a bit forced, and yes it is, but I am of the opinion that if you are intruding into their environment and disrupting their way of life by drifting away on a fancy looking boat for your own amusement, why not contribute? Isn't it fair?
I had read about Halong Bay being overtaken by hordes of tourists that made the experience all not that interesting. Personally, I did not have that feeling at all and didn't find there were as many boats as had been suggested. Probably we were in off-peak season but we never came across other boats on the way or got close to any whilst we docked overnight.
The drinks at the boat were chargeable to around 45,000dong per beer (£1.7) so we only spent £15 on top of the tour price which was $387 for both of us.
The weather was fantastic during our stay with blue skies and no signs of haze. We had plenty of time at the boat to lay at the hammocks and appreciate the scenery as well as enjoy an stunning sunset.
We were advised in advance that the water puppet show would be omitted due to lack of time and kayaking was also cancelled on the first day, apparently because of government restrictions... but were refunded $12 for that.
Either way, we found this tour to be equally enjoyable without these activities though kayaking would have been a plus.
The tour ended on the second day around 12:30pm and after an hour wait we headed back to Hanoi where we arrived at 17:30, perfectly on time to catch the overnight train to Hue. Read more about our train experience here
An alternative to the ever more touristy Halong Bay is Bai Tu Long. The price of the tour is similar and it takes longer to get there which makes it less appealing for 2D / 1N but gives you a chance to enjoy a more unspoiled environment.
To conclude this post I must say that I totally recommend this tour regardless of being touristy because is totally worth the time. The unusual formations and landscape of the bay is very unique and even if you go for 2 days you won't regret it.
I do not recommend that you try to do a one day tour from Hanoi! You would waste 8h of travel and would have no time at all to enjoy it properly. If you don't have 2 days, skip it and go to Tam Coc instead (the inland Halong Bay).
If you have any comments, questions or corrections please feel free to give me some feedback, it will be greatly appreciated!
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